How and Why Did the Status and Position of Jews In Germany Worsen In the Years 1933-1939?

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Introduction

HOW AND WHY DID THE STATUS AND POSITION OF JEWS IN GERMANY WORSEN IN THE YEARS 1933-1939? Compared with what they would have to suffer when the Nazis came to power, the Jews in Germany under the Weimar Republic led quite decent lives. Many indigenous German people didn't trust or like them. There was a popular belief, fuelled by right wing extremists such as the Nazis that the collapse of the war effort in 1918 was more the result of the corrupting influence of financiers, typically Jews on the German economy than a failure of the military. Thus, it was easy to point the finger at the Jews for the subsequent national humiliating peace settlement. ...read more.

Middle

As soon as they came into power, the Nazis started to propagate, spiteful and untrue rumours about the Jews, such as that they would benefit off other's misfortunes by making vast profits and that they'd do anything to get money. This was to get the public on their side so that there wouldn't be as much of an outcry when the persecution began. This 'official' persecution began almost as soon as the Nazis took over. It started with members of the SA standing outside Jewish shops and turning people away from the door. After that, the Nazis started trying to make it harder for the Jews to practise their religion - by banning the 'kosher' meat that Jews eat and highly taxing equipment for their ceremonies. ...read more.

Conclusion

It also forbade a Jew to marry a 'pure' German. Jews also started to be excluded from public places, such as parks, swimming pools and restaurants. Towards the end of the 1930s, the persecution of the Jews entered its final stage. All Jews were forced to wear special cards identifying themselves, and they were banned from nearly all public places. The SA started to round up Jews, taking them either to the newly built concentration camps or deporting them to Poland. Another law was passed, stating that all Jewish passports were invalid. All of this anti-semantic feeling culminated in a night of extreme violence - Kristallnacht. Nazi stormtroopers all over Germany went around smashing up Jewish shops and burning down their synagogues. The 'final solution' had begun. ...read more.

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